Putting our Bulls to the Test

This week we were visited by Siebert and Gerdus from Studbook who took measurements of our bulls for performance testing. Performance tests are an important complement to other criteria in our bull selection. We believe that rigorous selection criteria, which includes performance testing contributes to the betterment of the Boran breed. The tests allow us to rank each bull against its peers using a range of calculations derived from measurements of average daily weight gain (measured over 6 months); fat layering on the rump and rib; marbling on the sirloin and sirloin size; length and height of animal; skin thickness and scrotum circumference.

At the 2016 Vastrap Boran Auction we will be offering 20 of our best 3-year old bulls. These bulls will go through a three-step process of evaluation. First, inspection by the Boran society. Second, a more detailed inspection and grading by a group of fellow Boran breeders, and lastly the performance testing. After each evaluation round the poorest performers are slaughtered and only 20 of the top performing bulls from a group of 50 will be offered at the auction. By doing this we endeavour to provide bulls that will be good ambassadors for both Vastrap Boran and the Boran breed as a whole.

Hi Craig, thanks for your question. Scarce genetics that do not perform mean very little. Obviously, if a bull is from a bloodline which has impressed in the past and has unique genetics I might tend to give him more than one chance to prove himself, but ultimately I will not use a bull or recommend a bull to a breeder that consistently underperforms his peers. For instance, if he’s below 93% in performance testing and fares poorly in the independent evaluation with our panel of fellow breeders, there’s no chance that he will survive. Whereas a bull with more common genetics would not get a second chance and be culled as soon as he fails performance testing. Hope this answers your question. Regards, Quentin